Putin orders modernization of Belomorkanal
Russia plans to renovate several of the country’s important waterways, first of all the famous Belomorkanal, which connects the White Sea and the Onega Sea.
According to Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin the waterway Belomorkanal, connecting the White Sea and the Baltic, will be modernized by 2018. Also waterways connecting Volga and the Baltic will be renovated, Lenta reports.
The canal enables the shipment of heavy and bulky items from Russia’s industrial centers to the White Sea, and then by sea-going vessels to Siberia’s northern ports along the Northern Sea Route.
Modernization of Belomorkanal is one of the largest investment projects in the Republic of Karelia, where reconstruction of one of the canal’s 19 locks already has started, Rossiyskaya Gazeta writes.
The total waterway length is 227 kilometers of which 48 kilometers are manmade. The cargo tonnage peaked during 1985 with 7.3 million tons being transported along the canal. Cargo quantities remained high during the following five years until 1990 and then declined. Early in the 21st century amounts began to rise gradually, but they remained low compared to the 1985 peak, just 283,400 tons in 2001 and 314,600 tons in 2002. During the shipping season of 2007, the canal’s cargo volume was at 400,000 tons. 2,500 passengers travelled along the canal as well, according to Wikipedia.
Belomorkanal was constructed by forced labor of GULAG inmates in 1931-1933.
